Nairn is a 5-10, 165-pound point guard ranked just outside the top 100 prep players in the nation. The skinny on Nairn: He’s undersized with a still-developing jumper. Intangibles are his biggest assets—for now.

“I’ll never be a LeBron James or a Kobe Bryant,” Nairn said. “I think with me being undersized, I have to always be a dog, and I have to always bring energy. That’s why I play with so much passion.”

***

Nebraska’s Terran Petteway was a revelation last season, emerging as one of the top players in the Big Ten after transferring from Texas Tech. Well, he’s working hard in the offseason to get even better. To be exact, he’s trying to become bigger and stronger.

The 6-6 Petteway was listed at 209 pounds a year ago. Now, he’s at 218 pounds with a body-fat of about three percent. He also recently bench pressed 245 pounds six times and squatted 405 pounds. Not bad at all.

“You should see the stuff he does in the weight room,” said Tim Wilson, NU’s basketball strength coach. “It’s pretty incredible.”

The Wolverines bring back three secondary players who started a combined 33 games in 2013 and return a host of other youngsters (Jourdan Lewis, Channing Stribling, Dymonte Thomas) who played a bit in 2013.

“Jabrill and I have had conversations,” Michigan coach Brady Hoke said this week on an episode of “Inside Michigan Football.” “All those people who are patting you on the back, they’re the same ones who will put a knife in your back (if you struggle). Don’t worry about that, just do what you’ve done to get you to this point and work the way you’ve worked.

There are some problem areas (offensive line, linebacker) for PSU as the team gets ready for camp, and Franklin and his assistant coaches have been sending strong signals they may turn to the 2014 recruiting class to provide depth and, in some cases, immediate impact.

“We’ve got a good core,” coach Kirk Ferentz said earlier this summer, “but that doesn’t mean we’re there yet. We’ve got to get better.”

Since Ferentz took over the program in 1999, the Hawkeyes have produced four seasons in which they averaged at least 30 points a game. The Hawkeyes return eight starters from an offense that scored 26.3 points in 2013.

BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men’s basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.